


The Sanders Sanctuary for Borrowers/Tinies

by ukaia_dorei



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Abuse, Abuse of Tinies/Borrowers, Blood, Borrowers - Freeform, Cages, Character Death, Cussing, Dreams and Nightmares, G/T, I think that's everything, I'm Bad At Tagging, Minor Character Death, New tags, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Talking about being crushed, Villain Deceit Sanders, implied drowning, nothing too graphic, throwing borrowers, throwing up, tinies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-18 15:08:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18702058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ukaia_dorei/pseuds/ukaia_dorei
Summary: These are stories I've written based on an AU by ironwoman359  She is an amazing writer and very kind person!! Go check her out on Tumblr!





	1. Chapter 1

OK So here's the info!!! 

Ironwoman is the one who came up with this entire AU. The stories I'm posting here are fanfics I've done of her idea!! 

Each Chapter I'll post is a story I've submitted to her for that AU, and I'll tag each one with the info it needs, along with the general tags at the start here. PLEASE MAKE SURE you read the tags!!

For her account and amazing writing go here

https://ironwoman359.tumblr.com/

For this AU Specifically go here!!

https://sanders-sanctuary-au.tumblr.com/

I highly suggest you check out both accounts and see how amazing she is!!

OK next chapter will start the stories I posted to the blog! 

Thanks for reading!! If I ever miss a tag, please please feel free to tell me so I can fix it right away!

Hey everyone!! There's a new Blog! If you want to interact with everyone and make your own Tiney/Borrower or Human Please join us here!

https://fanders-sanctuary-au.tumblr.com/

Have fun!


	2. The Shadow Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deacon has a reputation in the underground, and he uses it to his advantage.

You said you didn’t mind if we wrote fan fiction for this AU, so I thought I’d give it a try. You liked my suggestion about Deacon having a reputation in the underground, so I hope you like this!

I thought I’d submit it to you directly, instead of posting somewhere else and tagging you in it. Just in case you don’t like the idea. Feel free to ignore it.

Warnings- Threats, Begging, Mentions of underground fighting rings, underground auctions, implicating murder, inhumane treatment of borrowers(nothing detailed all implied). Sympathetic Deceit/Villain Deceit

I think that’s everything, please let me know if I missed anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Give em to the Shadow Man” the words were a death sentence to any tiny. Fear and panic rose up as any tiny these words uttered at them, sympathy and grief filled the others. They would never see this tiny again once the Shadow Man had them.

“No!! No Sir PLEASE!! Please don’t!! I .. I can still fight!!” the battered tiny begs, struggling to get to their feet. They had to prove their worth, they had to prove that they didn’t need to go to the shadow! The owner just shakes his head, nothing but contempt for the small battered figure held in his eyes.

“You’re useless to me. You’ve already lost me more money then you can make up. You’re going to the Shadow Man!” He says and carelessly dumps the battered tiny in a cage locking it tight. The tiny lays in the bottom of the cage, helpless and afraid. They were going to die, they were going to go to the Shadow Man. They would never be seen again.

Rumors of the Shadow Man had started a year or so ago. A man, it was assumed, though some argued it could be a woman, had shown up in a underground auction. They had bought the tiny’s that had been deemed the least value, those that had been the most worthless and the cheapest. It was odd, but nobody thought anything of it, sticking your nose where others business lay was never a smart idea. The figure showed up again at a underground fight. They were dressed the same, a heavy cloak in black, lined with a sickly yellow edge, and a hood that cast their face into the deep dark shadows. At the end of the fight the figure had approached the looser, a woman who’s tiny had lost every round and cost her money.

“I’ll take them off your hands.” the deep voice had spoken. The female, who’d been muttering about what she was going to do with such a useless fighter, startled. She’d bought this tiny just recently with the promise that it was a good fighter, one that could make her some fast cash. Instead it had already proven to be a bad investment, loosing every round it had been in and laying meek and battered at the bottom of her crate. Her reputation was plummeting and she had been debating dumping it on the side of the road, obviously she’d been scammed. It was better to cut her losses early and find some other tiny to work for her. The woman eyed the man suspiciously.

“Why do you want something so worthless?” She demanded, was this an undercover cop? He didn’t look like one, but the way he kept in the shadows, and the way the heavy cloak hid the details of his body made her feel nervous. Why would someone go to so much effort to disguise so much about themselves?

“Does it matter why? I’m willing to take it from you. No muss, no fuss, you’ll never see it again.” he promised, white teeth split the darkness that was cast over his face. She shuddered slightly, he felt dangerous, she eyed him. He must mean he was going to kill it then, how.. disgusting, but it did save her the effort, and a possible fine if she was discovered to have killed it.

“And how much are you going to charge me for this… "her hand waved slightly as she searched for the right word that sounded better then disposal.

"Service?” she said to him. Surely if he was going to dispose of a tiny he wanted some sort of compensation. Frankly she didn’t feel like paying anything anyway. She’d already lost plenty tonight already.

“Nothing. I’ll do it for free. ” He said. Her jaw dropped slightly. Free? He’d take and murder a tiny for free? She shivered as the teeth shown in the dim light once more. This man certainly was dangerous, there was no way.. perhaps he would do something else? Or had some sort of other plans for it? She decided suddenly she didn’t care. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she stared, while he waited patiently, the smile gone.

“And I’ll never see this thing again? I don’t nee–” he cut her off with a slight laugh that made ice crawl up her spine.

“Never again. You’ll never hear of it again. I promise” the voice all but purred out from the cloak and wrapped it’s self around her. She shuddered and then grit her teeth. It was a risk, but she didn’t want the stupid thing anymore.

“I’m not giving you my cage” she snapped. The man grinned again and reached into his cloak, a folded cage was pulled out and it snapped to it’s proper settings. He held out his hand.

“Give them to me.” He said, his tongue licking over his lips. It was an order not a request and his voice seemed to promise dangerous things if she didn’t do as he said and fast. She decided that she’d had more then enough of this man and quickly dumped the battered tiny from the cage and into his waiting hand. The little thing grunted in pain, but was set inside the other cage, and it locked with a small click.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” he murmured giving a mocking half bow and turned, the cloak flaring around him as he headed for the exit. She stood shuddering a bit as she watched the cage vanish under the cloaks’ folds. Whatever that man wanted with the broken tiny’s she didn’t want to know. She hurried home.

He started to show up a bit more often. At the auctions, at the fight rings and at other events that were held. He always had the dark cloak on, and he always went after the most worthless tiny’s. He’d always offer to take any of the losers off the owners hands. Always free of charge, and always with the promise that they would never be seen or heard from again. Eventually the rumors spread of the man who was cloaked in Shadows, who never gave his name, who sometimes seemed to have yellow eyes, or sharp nails. The rumors spread like wildfire. Some were sure the man did experiments on the tiny’s. Trying to change a worthless one into a better one. One man claimed he saw scales crawling up the Shadow’s face, and was convinced he was trying to make some sort of hybrid tiny, crossing them with animals. Others thought that he simply killed them, and took pleasure in it. Why kill humans when you could go to jail, if you could murder tiny’s and probably face no more then a fine? The Shadow man never confirmed or denied any rumor about themselves. They would only grin and laugh, eyes glittering dangerously. It always sent a chill up the spine of whoever had been brave, or stupid, enough to ask them to their face.

And that brings us back to this tiny, waiting for their death. The Shadow Man was there tonight and his owner approached him.

“I want this one taken care of.” he said bluntly. The Shadow man turned slowly and looked down at the bruised and battered tiny in the cage. He titled his head and then nodded, the folding cage came out from the cloak and snapped in place and the Shadow held out his hand. The owner dumped the tiny into his hand and huffed, as though finally relieved of trash.

“Good riddance” he muttered and turned not bothering to watch as the Shadow put the tiny in the other cage and locked it. The tiny huddled in the bottom of the cage as the Shadow moved around the ring. Soon enough two others joined them in the cage. None of them spoke, all of them knew they were doomed.

Finally the Shadow left the underground club and began to walk. The cage was pulled under the cloak, shielding them from prying eyes and the bitter cold of the winter air. It took about twenty minuets before the man pulled out a set of keys. He’d parked very far away from anything. He opened the car and very gently set the cage on the passenger side. Then he went to the other side and got in, sliding the hood back giving the tiny’s a good look at him for the first time. He started the car up and let it idle for a moment as he reached out gently buckling the cage in place. Then he reached down below the seat and pulled a small bag up. The bag was the size of a child’s toy, and seemed to have something in it. He opened the door of the cage and set the bag in before closing it once more.

“There’s some food and water in there. A bottle for each of you, and something easy on your stomach. Drink water at the very least even if you can’t stomach any food” he said, his voice far more kind and gentle now then it had been before. A soft warm smile played over his lip.

“I’ll get you someplace safe.” he said. He put the car into drive and headed away. He would glance at the silent tiny’s making sure they had taken the miniature bottles of water, perfect for the tiny’s hands and were sipping from them. The drive seemed to take ages, but finally as the sun was peering over the horizon they pulled into something that felt more like a gravel road.

“Sorry for the bumps” he muttered gently as the car drove forward. Finally he stopped and got out. The wash of cold winter air made the tiny’s shudder in the cage. The car had been warm and quiet, and while they were all terrified, he’d not made any threatening moves. Finally the passenger door opened and they came out, being tucked back under the cloak right away to keep the cold air from them. It wasn’t until a door was opened and then shut that they were brought back out.

“Welcome to your new home. The Sanders Sanctuary."he said gently.

"Patton! I’ve got some more friends, they are pretty battered, tell Tayln and Emile they are going to need three beds ready for them.” He says. A tiny pops out of a door that’s near the entrance

“I’ll go tell them right now!” He beams, the sun has no contest to the warm that radiates from the small person.

“Welcome. We’ll get you all fixed up in no time!” he says and waves then runs off to give the others a bit of a heads up. Deacon smiles gently at the ones in the cage as he walked towards the infirmary for borrowers. Already the three can see lights coming on and figures, figures their size, moving around getting things ready.

“Once you’ve been looked over then I’m sure Virgil will want to get some measurements so he can start some clothing for you. ” he says as he kneels down and very gently opens the cage.

“For now though, let them help you alright? We’ll worry about the rest later” he promises. Talyn comes hurrying out, pushing a tiny sized wheelchair, and Emile follows close on their heels with another, and Patton comes pushing a third.

“Alright, if you can’t walk tell me now and I’ll help you into the chair.” they say. Deacon stands up slowly

“I’ll leave them in your capable hands” he says heading for the exit.

“Wait!” one of the tiny’s shouts. He stops short and turns back looking curiously at the one who’s owner had dumped off on him tonight.

“yes?” he asks tilting his head.

“You’re just.. you’re letting us go? Just like that? You’re not going to kill us or.. do experiments or.. or.. ” they are shaking and Deacon shakes his head no.

“Nothing like that will ever happen to you here. You’re safe here. And those three can get you started in healing. You can meet the others later, for now though.. rest up, and let them help you alright?” he says in a gentle tone. The tiny feels tears welling up in their eyes and they give a short nod, slowly stumbling out of the cage, tripping only to be caught by Patton.

“Hey there kiddo… welcome home. ” he says gently. The tiny breaks down into sobs clinging to Patton, finally feeling safe.


	3. The Weight of Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deacon’s work as the mysterious “Shadow Man” has its consequences, and confronting them isn’t any fun.

I hope you don’t mind I wrote another story for this AU! It’s been nice having something break though the writers block I’ve had for a couple months. AND I thought it might be interesting to explore what could be happen with Deacon as he plays his role as The Shadow Man.

I hope you enjoy it!

Warnings- Minor Character Death mentioned, Major Character Death, Vomiting, Nightmares, Talking about being crushed/crushing someone (nothing graphic), cursing, Sympathetic Deceit.

I think that’s all of them, please let me know if I missed anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s your fault she’s dead!!” The healing borrower hissed at Deacon as he walked past. He stopped short and blinked confused looking at the borrower.

“Pardon?” he asked. The young man limped closer to the rail and spat at Deacon making him flinch back surprised, he wiped the spot off of his face. And the borrower continued to rage at him. His voice raising higher, screaming curses and accusations, as he leaned forward against the rail.

“It’s your fault! She worked her self to death literally to keep us from being given to you! The Shadow man! The terror of every fucking tiny that exists! She died because you are a villain! Because she was desperate to keep us out of your hands!!” he snarled. Deacon winced at the accusation, though he said nothing in his defense. He knew that it was probably true. With his reputation as the Shadow Man tinies, or borrowers, were threatened by him and worked harder and endured more than they had to in order to keep from being given to him. He knew there wasn’t anything he could do about that, his reputation meant he was never questioned, and the disappearances were never looked into. 

“I hate you! I hate you!!” the borrower screamed leaning further over the rail as if trying to reach Deacon so he could hit him. Suddenly he slipped falling over the edge of the rail. Deacon managed to react fast enough and caught them. With a relieved sigh he very gently put them back on the balcony as they sobbed brokenly.

“That’s alright, hate me all you want. Just make sure you talk to the others though alright? And.. I am sorry about your friend.” he added in a soft tone stepping back. The broken sobs were all he got as he sighed stepping away from him. He’d tell the next borrower he came across to come help this one out.

He let out a slow shaky breath. That had been close, much too close. Deacon didn’t mind the hatred, well he did, but he understood it. They needed someone to direct their fears and blame onto, and he played a villain. It was easiest for them to direct it at him. It hurt, to be hated and feared by the ones he saved, but he knew in some small way it helped them, so he never spoke up in his own defense, he never raised his voice to them, or even told them to stop. He simply accepted it. Deacon sighed as he stepped outside trying to put the interaction behind him. He had other things he needed to focus on right now, things to help other borrowers when he rescued them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m still not sure this is the best way to test this Roman.” Deacon muttered looking at Roman standing in the new cage. Roman huffed and put his hands on his hips.

“Of COURSE it’s the best way! I mean it’s not like you can hop in here and make sure getting jostled around isn’t painful!” he said with a smug smirk. Deacon rolled his eyes at the borrowers dramatic tone. Roman and he were currently testing a new folding cage. This one had a solid looking bottom, but had padding on it, that concealed small zipped pockets. These pockets could have bottles of water stashed into them and bandages for an emergency. After one tiny had been rescued, they’d made an interesting suggestion to them. They had suggested one of the borrowers from the Sanctuary be in the cage, to help calm and reassure the ones that Deacon was rescuing. It wasn’t a bad idea to be honest. He knew that with the poor shape a lot of the borrowers he got were in, the less stress they had the better it was for them. So Roman had immediately volunteered to go with him. He claimed it would be a wonderful chance to act and help others more than he did now. Deacon had been reluctant to take anyone, but after a few trial runs, where Roman hid in his pocket while he arrived, and would go into the cage only after the first tiny was gotten, things had gotten into a routine. They were testing this new cage to see if Roman could be more comfortable, without giving the impression that they were helping the borrowers.

“Still I really don’t like the idea of shaking you while you’re in a cage” he muttered. Roman sighed and rolled his eyes once more

“Look it happens, and I want to see how comfortable it is to roll round on this thing, and I’ve even put some water bottles in the pockets. I plan on jumping up and down on them a bit to see if they burst or anything! But it’s easier to test it if you give me a good shake! I know I’ll be fine you chicken giant!” He said. Deacon scowled at Roman, he knew the idea was good but he was still uncomfortable with literally shaking the small man off his feet! He sighed though as Roman began to cluck at him and make other chicken sounds strutting around the cage and flapping his arms.

“Fine, fine you win. But I’m not going to do anything too rough” he muttered. Roman laughed and bounced up and down on his feet. You’d think he’d just won something grand, not to be jostled round helplessly. Deacon wasn’t sure he’d ever understand this borrower.

“Get to it Shakey McQueen” he said snickering happily. Deacon rolled his eyes a bit as he picked the cage up. He supposed he could give it a shake. It was true that sometimes he got jostled, or someone tried to jerk the cage from his hands. It would be a good test to make sure the solid bottom was comfortable, and to see if landing on the hidden pockets was something that could hurt someone. He rocked the cage back and forth very carefully.

“Ohhh how terrifying. I think my bunny slippers just ran for the hills.. “Roman deadpanned from inside the cage, barely moving from the gentle motions.

"Did you…. did you just Mulan at me?” Deacon asked staring down at Roman, who promptly smirked up at him, before pointing dramatically.

“Dishonor on you! Dishonor on your cow! ” he quoted and Deacon snorted, struggling to keep from laughing out loud. He had to give it to the tiny, Roman really was good with his impressions.

“Ok ok I give. Hang on tight then little man” he said and gave the cage a proper hard shake sending Roman rolling round the bottom of it.

“Woaho!!” he yelped as he was knocked off his feet and thrown to the padded floor of the cage. He laughed as he looked up at Deacon who was looking worried he might have hurt him some how, though he felt better by the thousand watt grin being shot up at him.

“That’s a wild ride!!! Do it again!!” he laughed. Deacon sighed, grinning a bit and shook the cage again, harder than he intended as it ended up flinging the little borrower across where he grunted hitting the end of it. Deacon stopped short his eyes wide, frozen as Roman lay still for a moment on the floor of the cage.

“Oof!!.. Ok that one got me. But you know ” Roman groaned as he sat up rubbing his back a bit after catching his breath.

“That kind of gives me an idea. Why don’t we just make a solid cage with this padded stuff? I mean.. we could do the floor thing for the walls too, that way it’ll be padded all the way around, and less eyes to pry into this thing when I’m helping out the rescues.” he said. Deacon nodded setting the cage down on the ground once more, his heart was still somewhere near his toes and he drew in a shaky breath. Yep, testing was done for today! He pulled open the unlocked door to let Roman get out.

“I mean not that it matters much to you one way or another though.."Roman added as he rubbed his back a bit more with a soft groan. Deacon blinked confused, not liking the sick feeling that was starting to settle in his stomach. He didn’t understand where that had come from.

"What?” he asked him staring down at Roman. The borrower shrugged, and spoke nonchalantly.

“I said, you don’t really care. I mean,you did at some point, but not now. It’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about to be honest.” he said to him as he began to walk towards the exit.

“I’m an actor so I know acting most the time when I see it. And the goody goody thing you’re doing? It’s the act now. You’re definitely becoming The Shadow Man more and more, and it fits you really well. "Roman said as he rocked back and forth a bit on his heels looking up at Deacon.

"I mean, you don’t even help out with caring for the tinys we get ya know? You just scoop em up and dump em here! I’ve seen the grin on your face when you intimidate the humans and borrowers alike!” He accused. Roman stopped short at the sharp clang of the cage door slamming shut.

“Deacon.. what.. what are you doing?” he asked turning to look up at him, eyes narrowed though he looked a bit anxious. Deacon himself was shocked, he’d moved without even realizing it, his hand holding the cage door firmly shut.

“Take it back” Deacon said quietly to Roman. Roman crossed his arms staring up at Deacon defiantly, hiding the nervous look behind familiar bravado.

“Or what? What will you do Shadow Man?” he asked him. Deacon scowled, anger bubbling up inside of him, slicing at his insides like red hot razors.

“Don’t call me that Roman!” he warned him. He wanted to take his hand off the cage, but instead he picked it up, bringing Roman eye to eye with him.

“You know I hate how I act when I’m in those places! You KNOW it! Why would you say that?! Any of that?!?” he demanded. Roman gestured to the cage around him as if it held all the answers.

“Because obviously you’re being a complete and total moron! I mean, you’re falling deeper and deeper into that Shadow Man persona! Look at you! I barely had to goad you for you to shake this thing hard enough that I got the wind knocked out of me!” he hissed at him.

“You’ve got me trapped in here! So do it Shadow, Do it. I dare you! Shake the cage again and prove to me that I’m right!” he snapped at Deacon. Deacon shook his head no. Roman was wrong, this was all wrong. He wasn’t like those abusive owners, or the ones who were so clueless it killed the tinies. He wasn’t!! He saved them, he donned the villain act to do just that! He was NOT a bad guy!!

“Are you really trying to lie to yourself?” He heard his own voice speak and his head jerked up in shock. Standing directly across from him was… himself as The Shadow Man. Deacon could on stare in confusion as the Shadow Man Him moved closer so they were standing directly on the other side of Roman who was still trapped in the cage. The borrower gave no indication that he heard the other figure speak or even knew he was there..

“I’m not lying” he growled out.

“Of course you’re not. You’re simply denying how wonderful it feels to have this power. The ability to control a life.” the Shadow Man said, his voice the silken caramel tones. Deacon shuddered, making the cage rock and knocking Roman to his knees. The Shadow man laughed

“See? See how easy that was? One little shake and he’s knocked to his knees.Go on.. shake it again. Prove to him you’re the strong one. The one who’s really in charge, not this little.. thing. He won’t dare question you if you do that” He said.

“Roman is not a THING!” Deacon snapped, the cage groaned under his fingers. He was gripping it so tightly the metal was bending, biting into his hands. He could feel the bars digging into his skin, starting to cut it.

“Oh no? I think you actually think he is.. I mean.. You are crushing him right now.” the Shadow said smirking. Deacon looked down, and instead of the cage being held in his hands, groaning from the pressure, Roman was clutched tightly in his hands, his body being squeezed as he struggled helplessly. Deacon let go of him reflexively, sending Roman plummeting to the ground with a sickening crack. The borrower lay deathly still on the ground before him.

“Roman.. NO.. nonoROMAN!!” Deacon cried out dropping to his knees, he scooped the limp borrower up, he wasn’t breathing, his chest caved in from Deacon’s tight grip on him and then the drop. He’d killed Roman. Oh god.. oh god he’d killed Roman!! How could he!! The Shadow Man was laughing.

“Feels good doesn’t’ it? Crushing the life out of him?” He said smirking at Deacon who stood, tears cascading down his face, Roman’s limp body cradled to his chest.

“Shut up Shut UP SHUT UP!! It was an accident!! I didn’t mean to do it!!” he screamed at him. The Shadow just laughed.He held his hands out towards Deacon and suddenly he felt the cloak starting to wrap around him

“No!! No Let go!!” he yelped, struggling against the fabric.

“I’m not a bad guy I’m NOT!!I didn’t mean to! ” he struggled in the cloak’s folds, he couldn’t breath, this is what Roman must have felt. Being smothered, crushed in the dark shadows. He deserved to be dragged into the darkness for killing Roman. How could he kill Roman?!?

“NO!!” He screamed jerking up right in his bed and promptly falling off the side landing with a painful thud on the ground, his legs and right arm twisted in the blanket and sheets, pinning them together painfully. He struggled finally jerking the confining material off himself and scrambling away from it. His breathing was coming in short jerky gasps, tears fell down his face fast and hard. His pj’s clung to his body since he was soaked in sweat. Every inch of him was shaking as he struggled to come to terms with the fact it was just a nightmare he’d had. He gulped at the cool night air, focusing on that and the cold floor beneath his hands. Suddenly, his stomach turned sending him scrambling for the bathroom. He managed to get to the toilet and heaved. Deacon felt like he was bringing up everything for hours, though it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes before his body finally settled. He coughed slumping back against the tub, letting the cold seep into him even more. Just a dream, the entire thing had just been a nightmare. 

“…they're getting worse” he mumbled out loud, his eyes closed as he tried to find energy to get up. Ever since the one borrower had died before he could get them back to the Sanctuary for medical attention he’d had nightmares. Plagued by the fear that he had caused more deaths directly or in directly. It didn’t help that some of the borrowers he saved really did blame him for some deaths, and others refused to be anywhere near him, convinced he was just a villain in disguise.

Finally he pushed himself up to his feet and flushed the toilet. Deacon took a few moments to wash out his mouth with water and then wash his face. He looked at himself in the mirror. Paler then normal, dark shadows were making homes under his eyes, he could give Virgil a run for his money, he grinned slightly at the imagined outrage of the Emo Borrower accusing him of stealing his style. Shaking his head he dried his face off and sighed. Sleep wasn’t going to be coming back to him again tonight, so he might as well make himself useful.

He trudged to the kitchen and got some coffee going, before fetching his lap top and starting to go into the dark web, looking for more events to crash. He couldn’t let Thomas or anyone else know how bad the nightmares were. If he did they’d make him stop. They’d make him take a break, he couldn’t allow that. If he stopped, if he took a break, if he wasn’t there then others would die, they would suffer. He could handle the nightmares and lack of sleep. He could handle the role of villain, could handle being hated by some of those he helped save. That was fine! As long as it saved others.

That’s all that mattered to him. It wasn’t like there was anyone else at the sanctuary who could do this anyway. No, he couldn’t let them know about the nightmares and make him rest. He couldn’t let the others who needed him down.

He’d be fine. Just… fine…


	4. Shadow Trap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deacon gets asked to take in a large group of borrowers, but not everything is as it seems. Will he be able to get them, and himself, to safety?

I hope you don’t mind I wrote another fic for this AU. I just can’t seem to help myself!! I really am enjoying writing and reading everything for it!!

This one is a bit different then the others as it goes from Present to Past and back. Each one is separated by the ~~~~ So please let me know if it was just too confusing. I do hope you enjoy it though!

Warnings- Blood, Cursing, referring to borrowers as less then human, betrayal, implied drowning of borrowers, open ending I think that is everything, if I missed anything please let me know!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“you have GOT to be kidding me!” Deacon huffed out as he scrambled down another alley, the cage clutched tightly against his body, jostling the small figures inside. He wanted to apologize but he couldn’t, he didn’t have time or breath to do so. Besides they were not complaining. They were too frightened to complain at the rough treatment.This had not gone well at all, and the blood dripping from the human onto the cage was not comforting Roman in the least. He looked back towards the shouts of the men chasing Deacon, then back up to him as he made another sharp turn, scrambling to keep ahead of the group, and keep the tinies he was protecting from harm.

Roman did not like this helpless feeling at all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This had all started several weeks ago when Deacon was making the rounds at one of the auctions. Roman was sitting in the cage, waiting for the purchases, he winced at the thought, to be done and the new tinies to be brought to him. Deacon had managed to buy quite a few tonight actually, he’d been surprised but pleased that the money could get so many off the market. Not to mention he’d been approached and asked to take another few after the auction, naturally he agreed to it. As he was taking the last of the ones their owners didn’t want anymore, another person spoke up.

“How many you willin’ ta take at once?” The voice asked. Deacon turned slowly eyeing the person. He was short and of stocky build, and had buzz cut hair.

“As many as I am given. I have no limit to the ones I can take from others.” he said simply. The man nodded while eyeing Deacon up and down.

“We gotta bunch of defects, about four dozen of em. We’re looking to dump the lot. You willin?” he asked. Deacon nodded, feeling his heart racing a bit. That was a LOT of borrowers to take in at once. He knew the sanctuary could handle it, but hopefully these tinies wouldn’t be in horrid shape. If they were al injured or ill, or worse then they might struggle a bit keeping up with healing them.

“Naturally.” he said to him with a smile, keeping his voice even and charming as always. It really was odd how two things set people on edge so much. The first being the soft spoken tones, and the other the dark shadows of his cloak.

“Good. Here’s the address.“The man muttered thrusting a piece of paper at Deacon, who took it in his gloved hand. He didn’t like the feeling he was getting from this interaction.Still if he could save that many at once… he glanced at the address for a moment before pocketing it in the folds of his cloak.

“Meet us there in three days. We’ll have the lot of em boxed up ‘n ready for you to take.“The man muttered, he started to turn away but stopped short

"Whadda you do with em all anyway?” he asked, his curiosity getting the better of them. Deacon smiled very slowly, leaning closer to the other man, letting his shadow seemingly ooze over the other’s skin. The man finally shuddered.

“That.. is my own business.” He said softly. The man nodded before he turned and all but bolted out of the place looking pale.

“We’re going to be busy getting ready” He thought to himself as he turned, his cloak swirling around him. They had a lot of work to do!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was loosing ground, he couldn’t keep this pace up much longer. But, he needed to get the attention off his tinies, he needed the men chasing him to not notice as he got them someplace safe. He looked down at the frightened faces, then back up scanning for something. His eyes finally landed on a desperate answer.

“Roman do you trust me?” he panted out. Instantly Roman was on his guard, staring up at Deacon.

“It’s never good when you quote Disney at me Dee!” Roman hissed. Deacon just nodded, not good, but this was his only chance to make sure that the tinies got away, that the attention was off them, and the men would focus only on him!

“Yes or no Roman” he hissed

“Yes of course Dee!” Roman said to him, though still wary, what was he planning?

“Good.. "he took in a breath and calculated the distances, listening for the shouts of the men chasing him. He had to get this right, he’d only get one shot!! He moved the full cage to one arm, while sliding another folding cage from his cloak. Roman watched in confusion, wondering what Deacon’s plan was. Finally he was sure they were kind of out of sight, and his goal was right there..

”here goes nothing, please god let this work“ he thought to himself. He took in a deep breath, looked back one more time before.

"yeet!” He muttered.

Roman’s eyes widened at the implication.

“Mother goth–” was all he managed to get out and then the world spun out of control.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roman stared at Deacon a look of utter horror on his face as the human dressed for the meeting they had that night.

“What.. are.. those…” He said as he stared at the human. Deacon looked at him then looked down at his hands and then back at the borrower.

“Gloves.” he said dryly. Roman huffed at him and put his hands on his hips, staring at the offending items that hung from one of Deacon’s hands.

“Yes I can see that. But what is that color!??!” He demanded, stamping his foot in exasperation. Decaon gave him a look, before grinning smugly.

“Why Roman.. These gloves are yellow!!"He said in a surprised voice, like one would use on a child.

"I didn’t think you hadn’t learned your colors yet! These are yellow.. gloves. Do you need to go to school again?” He asked in a sugary sweet tone, keeping his words slow and measured. The way you’d speak to a child as you were teaching them Roman squawked at him in indignation and insulted.

“Those are not what you are going out in! I refuse to be held in those garish things!!” he said to him flailing his arms. Deacon snorted at the dramatic tiney. He shook his head as he pulled the yellow gloves over his hands.

“Roman my black gloves got trashed, and I didn’t have any extras. Not to mention anymore time. I bought these for now, it’s not that bad!” he protested. The little diva shook his head

“No! Nono no!! Those are not going out gloves! No self respecting villain would go out in gloves that didn’t have an ounce of taste to them! Those god awful monstrosities look like you just finished doing your dishes and forgot to take the gloves off!!” He shrieked at him. Deacon sighed and then stared at Roman.

“These are what I have. Take it or I’ll leave you behind.” he warned him. Though both of them knew that he wouldn’t leave Roman behind, this was too important.

“This is cruel and unusual punishment!! Torture of Tinies! You should be jailed!!” Roman wailed as he reluctantly climbed into the yellow gloved hand offered to him. He dramatically flopped across the, surprisingly soft and comfortable, material. Huh, looks could be deceiving, but he was on a roll, and there was no way he’d admit that he might have judged them too quickly!

“yes yes, I shall atone for my crim–”

“of fashion! You are to be judged by a court of your, -far more fashionable-, peers!!"he said to him as he pointed at Deacon, while laying comfortably as he was carried.

"Oh? And where is this court who shall judge me?” Deacon asked, his lips quirking up a bit at the edges.

“It is me of course!! And I call you guilty!! Your punishment is!!"He paused for the dramatic effect, Deacon felt his lips twitching more trying not to smile.

"You shall have to put socks with sandals! And jorts with a flannel shirt!!!” Roman said dramatically, he clutched at his own chest in pain at the sentence. Deacon was struggling not to laugh at Roman now.

“Oh no. The horror” he managed the deadpan tone. Roman nodded sagely up at him, looking sympathetic, wiping away a pretend tear.

“I know, the sentence is dire, but I feel you must have the harshest of punishments for the crime you committed.” he said. Deacon finally gave in and laughed out loud. Roman beamed, pleased at having accomplished that.

“I’ll serve my sentence after we save these borrowers alright?” Deacon promised still snickering. Roman nodded his head in agreement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cage hit the a bush with a dull twhump, while a large splash of another cage hitting the water behind them was heard. Theirs hit the ground and stopped, more or less out of sight of the group chasing Deacon.

“Fuck that asshole threw the lil fucks in the river!!” One man yelled as they ran past, not seeing the cage full of tinies hidden in the shadow of the bush.

“Screw'em!! there’s plenty more where they came from!! Get this fucker for the bounty!!” another gruffer voice shouted. The voices and feet all faded away as Roman groaned slightly, letting out the breath he’d been unconsciously holding, hoping they were not spotted.

“I.. am not letting him and Virgil hang out anymore unsupervised” He muttered under his breath as he tried to get his bearings.

“Wh.. what’s going to happen to us now?” one of the ones they rescued asked him with wide frightened eyes. Everyone had been jostled and shaken up, but thanks to the padding they were not too bad off. The impact on the bush first then the ground had helped as well.

“He’ll shake them off and come back for us” Roman said confidently. He was sure that Deacon would do that. He knew they could get out of the cage, it wasn’t locked, but the best thing to do right now as to wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I really am not liking the look of this” Roman muttered to Deacon as they stopped a few blocks from the address they had been given. Deacon nodded a bit, this was smelling more and more like something unsavory going on. Then again he was getting used to dealing with… unsavory things. Still, this place made his skin crawl. He checked on a few things, a taser, his folding cages (He’d brought two of them with him for this deal it would be crowded, but he didn’t have a spot for a third in his cloak) with the soft bottoms were in his cloak, along with pepper-spray and a couple knives. In the car was a fully stocked emergency kit, and some borrower sized supplies so Roman could help them out on the way back to the Sanctuary. Deacon let out a long breath as he made sure the car was fairly well hidden.

“Perhaps you should stay in here” He muttered as he looked at the run down warehouses around them. Roman gave him a look of disbelief

“You must be joking, as if I’m letting you go in there all alone” he snorted. Deacon smiled a bit he had expected that answer but it still felt good to hear him say that, and even though the borrower was tiny, it was an odd comfort to have him as sort of back up. He smiled

“Yeah, not funny I guess. Alright Roman, lets get this done with. ” he said to him as he got out of the car. He picked Roman up in his hand, then gently set him in his chest pocket. Roman was going to hide in there until they got away with the other tinies, and then he’d go into the cages with them to help calm them down and explain what was happening. Deacon double checked everything and then began to walk the few blocks towards the designated meet up spot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re sure he’s going to come back?” one of the tinies asked. Roman nodded, it had been over an hour, and they were still waiting. He was getting more and more worried about Deacon, he was sure he would come back for them. But what kind of shape would he be in?

Hour and a half passed

Two hours

The entire group stilled and held their breath as they heard someone coming towards them. The steps were slow and, drug a bit on the ground. Roman bit his bottom lip as he waited, moving towards the exit that he knew wasn’t locked… waiting, he’d get them out of there if someone unknown approached.

“Hey.. did you miss me?” Deacon’s voice spoke and Roman relaxed, the tension he’d been feeling evaporating.

“Took you long enough jolly green!” he said, he couldn’t hide the relief in his voice as he stared up at his friend. Deacon smiled, though he looked exhausted, the blood on the side of his face had partially dried and he was holding his ribs tightly with one arm as if he’d been kicked.

“Well what can I say, those jerks were rather persistent. Lets get everyone home.” he said. He leaned over wincing and gently picked up the cage, putting them under the warm cloak. It took a bit longer then normal but they finally reached the car and once the cage was buckled in he headed home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deacon entered the warehouse and looked around. Three men stood with a cage full of tinies. It seemed like a good deal less then the four dozen they had told him about and he narrowed his eyes.

“That does not look like the amount you spoke of.” He said slowly, letting his eyes travel around. He stayed were he was and one of the men spoke.

“There was a bit of a change and delay. So we only got this many, we figured it was a good faith shwon though.” he said. Deacon nodded slowly and moved over. He unfolded his own cage and then motioned

“Put them in here” he said to him. The guy shrugged and took the cage as he began to dump the tinies into it. Deacon kept his face blank at the small cries of pain that escaped the tinies as they were dumped into the cage. He reached out to take it back when the man spoke.

“Ya know, our boss lost his favoriate tiney a bit ago” He said. Deacon watched him with narrow eyes

“An he put out a reward for whoever brought in the bastard that killed em. ” He said. Deacon frowned and then he heard footsteps behind him, he turned, but not fast enough

CRACK!

A pipe smacked him hard in the head and Deacon crumpled to the ground with a pained cry, he could feel hot blood pouring down the side of his face. His head was swimming and everything was doubled and echoed. He was honestly shocked he wasn’t unconscious, he’d gotten lucky turning and not gotten hit in the temple, but instead more his cheek and jaw. He was relieved he’d managed to fall not on Roman, and instead on his other side, but his head was swimming as he tried to focus. This had been a set up.

“So! We’re gunna tun ya in and get that reward!” the man laughed as he walked towards Deacon. Gritting his teeth Deacon summoned all the strength he had and grabbed his taser from the cloak, disguising it as an attempt to get up, before the man got close enough. He jabbed the taser in his leg sending the guy screaming back.

“You fucker!!” He yelled hissing. Deacon grabbed the cage full of tinies, thank god on the first try, always aim for the middle when you’re seeing double, and bolted out the door.

“Get em!!” The shout followed him as he ran for everything he was worth, he wasn’t going to let these tinies down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The drive back to the Sanctuary was quiet, Roman could see the black and blue bruise spreading over half of Deacon’s face while he drove. One hand kept tightly around his ribs, and he winced as he moved. They must have kicked him pretty hard, or perhaps they hit him with the pipe again?

“We’re here” Deacon said, his voice quiet. He stopped the car and took in a slow breath, then he reached over and undid the belt hissing slightly.

“They really got your ribs good didn’t they?” Roman asked as Deacon’s dark red glove scooched the cage closer before he picked it up.

“yep, a good kick” he smiled a bit. He picked the cage up and headed inside, his hand going back to his rib.

“Thomas we’ve got them!” Deacon called out as they entered the place. He knew everyone was expecting them. And he heard rapid footsteps approaching, both big and small. Patton and Virgil and a couple others hurried along the walkway, while Thomas hurried into the room though the main door.

“Oh thank goodn.. What happened to you?!?!” Thomas yelped seeing the dried blood on Deacon’s face and the bruise on his cheek.

“It was a set up, I’ve apparently got a bounty on my head for taking some gangs tiney.” He said nonchalantly, dismissing Thomas’s worries.

“More importantly I had to throw these guys when I was escaping. They need looked at. I’m fine, the bleeding’s already stopped” he said as he held the cage out. Thomas took it quickly in both hands and nodded

“Fine but I want-"Thomas started and Deacon waved his hand

"Later once I know this lot is fine. I think some of them have broken bones” He said. Thomas huffed but he nodded and hurried off towards the medical wing.

Roman was frowning. Something was niggling at him, something was off. He got out of the cage and helped the others. What was it that was bothering him?

It was another half an hour before he stopped short realizing what it was.

“OOF!! Hey you dolt what did you stop in front of me for?” Virgil demanded rubbing his nose

“….Red Gloves….” Roman said, his eyes wide, his chest feeling like someone was squeezing it.

“What?” Virgil asked frowning confused. Had Roman hit his head or something when the cage had been thrown? Perhaps he should be looked at?

“Red Glove.. Red.. He doesn’t have red gloves! He’s got yellow on! He was holding his side.. he said he got kicked!! He was pale and silent the entire ride!!” Roman said his eyes wide as he finally figured it out. Pale, wincing, holding his side, dismissing everyone. Deacon was hurt worse then he’d let on. Roman cursed and dropped the things he was carrying

“Thomas!!” he yelled

“Thomas we need to get to Dee now!!” He cried out. Thomas looked up from where he was bringing in some blankets for a few of the new people.

“What why he said he–” He started but Virgil was right behind him

“He lied!” Virgil said having figured out what Roman was getting at. Thomas blinked, then he reached down, both tinies climbed onto his hand and soon they were held to his chest as he ran down the halls towards Deacon’s room.

They burst into his room to see the man in question sprawled out on the floor, he’d shed his cloak and his shirt. Apparently he’d been trying to get to his bathroom when he’d finally passed out and crumpled to the floor. A pool of blood was spreading around him from the deep gash along his side that had sliced clean though the clothing and flesh like it was nothing.

“Dee!!” three voices cried out in unison.

There was no response.

**Author's Note:**

> There has been an announcement that broadwaytheanimatedseries is thinking of writing a Continuation to this story (what happened to Deacon after they found him and the healing he goes through)! If/when they do I have been given permission to post it here, and I will post it as Chapter 5 if you wish to see their tumblr before that please go here
> 
> https://broadwaytheanimatedseries.tumblr.com/
> 
> Thank you!


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